Two police officers from the Kenosha Police Department were suspended after body camera footage of them wrongfully arresting and beating a Black man holding a baby was released.
Jermelle English Jr. and Shayna Boyd were wrongfully arrested in an Applebee’s in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on July 20.
Footage captured the police officers beating English as he held the baby after he tried to take his son to the bathroom and change his diaper. The police mistook the couple for hit-and-run suspects who were hiding in the Applebee’s restroom following an accident near Highway 31 and Highway 50.
Kenosha is the same city where Jacob Blake was shot in the back by a police officer seven times and paralyzed, which led to the protest where Kyle Rittenhouse killed two BLM protestors.
The video footage also captured one of the officers pepper-spraying Boyd. The footage was released on Nov. 17, and Kenosha police chief Patrick Patton justified the officer’s actions in the video by blaming English and Boyd for “disorderly conduct.”
“At 11:11 p.m., an employee called Kenosha police to advise that a group of individuals matching the description of those who fled the scene had entered the restaurant and quote ‘appeared very nervous,’ ” Patton said on the video before it cut to Boyd and English walking into the Applebee’s looking calm and relaxed.
The 911 call was played over the video of a woman saying a couple with a baby looked nervous. “Those were the caller’s words,” added Patton.
The video shows the police officers arrive at the Applebee’s, and the staff directed them to English and Boyd as they calmly sat at their booth. Patton admitted on the video that the officers accused the couple of a hit-and-run.
“Officers reasonably believed that both individuals could have been involved in the crash,” he continued. “Officers approached them and began to ask them questions,” adding that they refused to answer.
However, English is heard telling the officer in the body camera video that he is not the same person wearing red they were looking for and answering their questions about how long they’d been at the restaurant.
An officer is heard saying, “There was an accident out there and somebody said that they saw you guys run in with a baby.” The officer asked the couple what kind of car they came to the restaurant in as English held the baby.
“They said somebody had red on, carrying a baby,” said one of the officers.
“Yeah, and somebody else was in here with red on, too,” English replied. After an employee said that they left, English added, “OK, then, so go find them. Check the camera. You can check the camera.”
The officer ignored English’s advice to check the camera and continued to ask about the vehicle he drove to the restaurant. The video paused, and Patton noted that the couple’s car was in the parking lot and visible from the table, and all the couple needed to do was point to the car. Patton did not note that the police officers could have checked the restaurant cameras.
After being asked how long they’d been at the Applebee’s, English told the officer they’d been there about an hour and 45 minutes. The manager claimed it was only 20 minutes, and Patton claimed the discrepancy caused the officer to keep detaining the couple. After English got up and tried to walk away, an officer told him he was detained.
“Don’t touch me because I’m going to take my son to the bathroom,” English said as he held the baby and a diaper. Several officers then circled English and told him to relax.
“You are not free to go,” one cop said as English said, “Excuse me,” and repeatedly asked them not to touch him. His partner, Boyd, also stood up and tried to de-escalate the situation.
“We don’t got to answer no questions,” said Boyd. “I already told you how long we’ve been here.”
At this point, the officers grabbed English as he yelled, “Look what the f—k you doing?” and begged to be let go as one officer was seen holding the back of his head. After an employee grabbed the now-crying baby, another officer began hitting English while he was face down as restaurant employees begged the police to stop.
Patton accused the couple of being violent and abusive in the video.
Community activist Tanya McLean questioned why the officers failed to de-escalate the situation.
“Why not just step away, give it a minute, or call someone else to the scene that is more skilled than what needed to happen in terms of de-escalation, because clearly, those police officers did not handle it properly,” McLean told CBS 58.
One of the officers was suspended for four days for hitting English, and the other was suspended for 10 days for failing to “decontaminate” Boyd after pepper-spraying her. They were both ordered to receive additional training.
The couple’s attorney, Kevin O’Connor, said the Kenosha Police Department needs intervention, and the officer’s violent attitude toward Black people comes from the top of the department.
“We now have a situation where this police department needs to be stopped,” said O’Connor. “That’s the situation we are faced with in Kenosha, and if you’re Black and you don’t cooperate, and you don’t beg and plead for forgiveness and mercy, you’re getting beat, and even when you do, do that you’re going to get beat, so that’s the attitude that’s be perpetrated by this department and it’s coming from the top.”
English and Boyd were both charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, and their trials are currently pending.
According to Fox6 News, Jay-Z’s Team ROC attorney, Alex Spiro, also represents the couple. The police later arrested the true culprits responsible for the crash, who were hiding in the restroom.
